In the episode which aired in the US on Sunday, family man Homer Simpson sees his domestic routine upset by the arrival of his childhood pen pal from Spain.

Eduardo Barcelona — "or, in English Eddie Miami", as the character explains — is a glamorous Spaniard who has lived exactly the kind of adventurous life Homer once wished for.

"What happened to us Eduardo? We had so many things we wanted to do," Homer asks.

"I've been doing them!" the Spaniard explains. "I've had eight wives and 200 children, among them artists and doctors and revolutionary chefs."

The Spanish character turns out to be an amalgam of common US stereotypes of Spain — charming, deeply religious, and an inveterate womanizer.

At the end of the episode titled Yolo, a reluctant Homer drivers his Spanish friend to the airport.

"Do I drop you at the kerb or do I have to park and walk you in?" asks the father of three.

"Go as far as your heart will take you," says the passionate Catalan, whose voice belongs to Simpsons stalwart Hank Azaria.

At the end of the episode we see the two men out the front of Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia. 

The record-breaking Simpsons, the US' longest running sitcom, is now in its 25th series. In the year 2000, the Simpsons Family was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2000, the dubbed Spanish version of the show was recognized by makers 20th Century Fox as the best dubbed version of the show in Europe.  

There are two different Spanish-language versions of the Simpsons — one destined for the Latin American market and the other for Spain.

Some of the characters in these versions have different names . For Latin America, for example, Homer becomes Homero. In Spain, however, he remains Homer.